This invention relates to the physical property measuring arts, and, more particularly, to means for ascertaining the constituent gases of a gas mixture.
There are many applications in which it is highly desirable to have means for easily and accurately determining the constituent gases of a gas mixture. In one specific application, the rapidly increasing cost of natural gas has inclined the industry to sell natural gas on the basis of its energy or caloric content. This approach requires a knowledge of the relative proportions of the methane or other combustible gases to the inert gases of a gas sample. The present invention finds particular use in such an application and comprises a method which is easily practiced with relatively inexpensive apparatus in a total gas measurement system.
It is therefore a broad object of this invention to provide improved means for determining the constituent gases of a gas mixture.
It is another object of this invention to provide such means which are simple and economical to practice.
In a more specific aspect, it is an object of this invention to provide a gas constituent determining method in which the pulse repetition rate of an astable fluidic oscillator, through which a sample gas mixture is flowing, is measured at a plurality of gas temperatures and related to the pulse repetition rate of the same or a like fluidic oscillator through which air, at like temperatures and pressures, flows in order to obtain a plurality of equations sufficient to determine the unknown percentages of the constituent gases.